Jurisdiction (Tort)

• Pages: 136-137

Page 136

Wayne Crookes (Plaintiff) alleges that someone made libelous statements against him on an internet site, the host service provider of which is Yahoo! Inc., a U.S. corporation. Yahoo (Defendant) has no business presence in this jurisdiction. The allegedly posted website is a restricted site run by a group of individuals having a common interest in discussing matters pertaining to a particular political party. Access to the site is available only to individuals whom those in charge of the group invited or otherwise permitted to take part. The general public does not have access to the postings and information on the site.

Plaintiff does not plead any particulars of the statements as being published in this jurisdiction; he does not allege that any particular individual has read the statements, nor does he plead that anyone read then at any particular time or place in British Columbia. Plaintiff pleads only: "The libelling of the Plaintiff s by the Defendants occurred in the Province of British Columbia, and its distribution on the internet, has cause the libel to be published throughout Canada and around the world.

On hearing the application, the lower court judge dismissed the action against Defendant. In material respects, she said: "None of the individual defendants live in British Columbia. The headquarters of all the corporate defendants lie in California. With respect to internet communications, the site of the alleged defamation is where the damage to reputation occurs: Dow Jones Co. Inc. v. Gutnick, (2002), 194 Aust. L. R. 433 (H.C.); Barrick Gold Corp. v. Blanchard and Co., [2003] O. J. No. 5817 (S.C.). It is when a person downloads impugned material from the internet that may damage reputation and it is at that time and place that the tort of defamation takes place."

"Defendant is a foreign defendant with no ties to British Columbia. In order for this court to assume jurisdiction over Defendant, there must be a real and substantial connection between the cause of action against Defendant and British Columbia. Plaintiff must show that someone in British Columbia accessed, downloaded and read the alleged defamatory postings on the GPC-Members website, hosted by Defendant on servers outside British Columbia, thereby damaging his reputation in British Columbia. Plaintiff has neither alleged nor tendered any evidence that this has happened.

Publication is an essential element for an action in defamation. In this case, there is...